Perfect De Bruyne the catalyst for Man City in imperious win at Leicester

Published on: 18 November 2017

Vincent Kompany was lucky to not see red early but Man City went on to down Leicester to continue their unbeaten run. Craig Burley dissects Vincent Kompany's lucky moment of not being sent off, but also examines City's attacking brilliance.

Manchester City continued their domination of the Premier League with an imperious display at Leicester, winning 2-0. The hosts managed to cause a few problems to Pep Guardiola's makeshift defence, but they were comfortably dealt with through a combination of great positioning or alert goalkeeping. Up front, City were a little more wasteful than in previous weeks, but they moved through the gears to produce some moments of sheer quality to find the net.

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Positives

It always felt like there was more to come from City. From a team that dominated the match, controlled the ball and came away winning comfortably, that's an excellent sign. The movement in attack was breathtaking at times, not least when Gabriel Jesus opened the scoring in the first half. A clean sheet with a rusty defence was also very welcome.

Negatives

The biggest downside to the victory was losing John Stones to injury midway through the first half. For a player who's been impressing week on week, it's disappointing to see he'll now miss a chunk of games with an apparent hamstring problem. It makes Vincent Kompany's return all the more important.

Manager rating out of 10

7 -- The tactics were just right to keep City in control, even if it felt like they could have stepped up their level further. With a packed fixture list to come, that's good game management.

Player ratings (1-10; 10=best. Players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)

GK Ederson Moraes, 8 -- Does the goalkeeper have any fear whatsoever? Several times he was under pressure from Jamie Vardy and he picked out a teammate with a cool pass. He was off his line quickly to cut out balls over the top, too.

DF Kyle Walker, 7 -- The full-back showed great awareness and control to fight for the ball on the right flank. His determination was best shown when he cleared off the line from Vardy, even though the flag was up. He wasn't to know and got back quickly to clear behind Ederson.

DF John Stones, 7 -- After looking assured for the opening half an hour, he was unfortunate to succumb to injury chasing a ball over the top. He'll be a big miss after his start to the season.

DF Vincent Kompany, 8 -- The defender showed rustiness to begin with -- frankly, he should have been sent off for denying Vardy a clear goalscoring opportunity in the very early stages -- but recovered well to perform as if he'd never been away.

MF Fabian Delph, 8 -- Still deputising as a left-back, Delph is coming into his own in the position. He struggled against Riyad Mahrez when the Algerian had the ball, so he made sure to cut out everything that was played in the winger's direction.

Kevin De Bruyne scored an absolute screamer in Manchester City's 2-0 win at Leicester.

MF Fernandinho, 7 -- Guardiola called Fernandinho one of the best in his position ahead of the game and he showed exactly why in the win at Leicester. He was always an option for the player in possession thanks to his movement, and his awareness to stop the home side breaking clear was excellent.

MF David Silva, 8 -- All that was missing from the Spaniard's performance was a goal. He had a couple of chances to find the net, but had left his shooting boots in Manchester. That didn't matter, though, considering his passing and vision were superb in creating opportunities for others.

MF Kevin De Bruyne, 10 -- Absolutely everything positive from City on the attack came through the Belgian. His goal was the icing on the cake of an exceptional display, as he gave Kasper Schmeichel no chance with his thumping drive on his "weaker" foot.

MF Leroy Sane, 8 -- The amount of space Sane was afforded seemed suicidal from Leicester, as the German continued to get in behind time and again. His final ball just needed a little bit more finesse to find a teammate when he got into dangerous positions.

MF Raheem Sterling, 9 -- One of the leading lights of this City display, Sterling was energetic on the right flank and played an impressive part in the build up to the opening goal. He was continually running at the Leicester defence and causing problems with his excellent movement on and off the ball.

FW Gabriel Jesus, 8 -- The Brazilian led the line well, pressurising the Leicester defenders into mistakes and getting himself into excellent positions. He couldn't miss when Silva squared for him late in the first half, to cap off a wonderful move.

Substitutes

DF Eliaquim Mangala, 7 -- Coming on for the injured Stones in the 31st minute, the defender looked a little uncomfortable on the ball. However, given the circumstances, he defended well and didn't shy away from his responsibilities.

MF Bernardo Silva, NR -- The midfielder came on to give Sterling some rest after 83 minutes.

MF Ilkay Gundogan, NR -- A late change for De Bruyne, the German kept things ticking over through stoppage time.

David Mooney is ESPN FC's Manchester City blogger. Twitter: @DavidMooney

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Source: espn.co.uk

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